Clemes Stacy A, Howarth Peter A
Visual Ergonomics Research Group, Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
J Biol Rhythms. 2005 Feb;20(1):71-82. doi: 10.1177/0748730404272567.
Virtual simulation sickness (VSS) is a form of visually induced motion sickness that can result from immersion in a virtual environment (VE). As in their susceptibility to the sickness induced by real motion, women have been reported to be more susceptible than men to VSS, yet the reason for this difference is not known. The aim of the current study was to investigate the influence of the menstrual cycle on susceptibility to VSS in 16 naturally cycling women and to compare the responses of this group with control groups consisting of 1) 16 premenopausal women taking a combined monophasic oral contraceptive and 2) 16 men. All female participants were immersed in a nauseogenic VE on days 5, 12, 19, and 26 of their menstrual/pill cycle. These days were chosen because they fall in line with peaks and troughs of ovarian hormone levels. Menstrual cycle phase was confirmed by salivary estradiol and progesterone levels. A 4-week "pseudo-cycle" was assigned to the male participants. Hormone analysis revealed that 9 participants in the experimental group had been tested at the desired phases of their cycle. These participants exhibited a significant increase in susceptibility to VSS on day 12 of their cycle. The hormone analysis also showed that the cycles of the 7 remaining members of the experimental group had not precisely followed the expected pattern, and so these people had been tested on days that did not coincide with peaks and troughs of ovarian hormone levels. No consistent variation in susceptibility was observed over the cycle in these volunteers. In addition, no change in susceptibility was observed over the pill cycle of the oral contraceptive group nor over the pseudo-cycle applied to the male control group. The authors conclude that susceptibility to VSS varies over the menstrual cycle as a consequence of hormonal variation.
虚拟模拟晕动病（VSS）是一种视觉诱发的晕动病，可能由沉浸在虚拟环境（VE）中引起。正如她们对真实运动诱发的晕动病的易感性一样，据报道女性比男性更容易患VSS，但这种差异的原因尚不清楚。本研究的目的是调查月经周期对16名自然月经周期女性VSS易感性的影响，并将该组女性的反应与以下对照组进行比较：1）16名服用单相复方口服避孕药的绝经前女性和2）16名男性。所有女性参与者在月经/服药周期的第5、12、19和26天沉浸在致呕性VE中。选择这些日子是因为它们与卵巢激素水平的高峰和低谷一致。通过唾液雌二醇和孕酮水平确认月经周期阶段。为男性参与者分配了一个4周的“假周期”。激素分析显示，实验组中有9名参与者在其周期的期望阶段接受了测试。这些参与者在周期的第12天对VSS的易感性显著增加。激素分析还表明，实验组其余7名成员的周期并未精确遵循预期模式，因此这些人是在与卵巢激素水平高峰和低谷不一致的日子接受测试的。在这些志愿者的整个周期中未观察到易感性的一致变化。此外，口服避孕药组的服药周期以及应用于男性对照组的假周期中均未观察到易感性的变化。作者得出结论，由于激素变化，VSS的易感性在月经周期中会发生变化。
